United Presbyterian Home

Nov 07, 2013

Last Thursday was a special day for Mildred Houseal as she was able to have lunch in Mount Pleasant with all three of her adult children, Connie Meyer, Duane Lewis and Sandy Suter. They celebrated Sandy’s Oct. 27 birthday and Duane’s Nov. 8 birthday.

The day care children paraded through the Health Center, showing off their Halloween costumes on Thursday. They introduced themselves to the residents and told about their costumes. They acted out a Halloween story as it was read to everyone and participated in a worm-crawl race. Afterward everyone enjoyed treats of doughnuts, doughnut holes and apple cider.

Orthopedic surgeon Brent A. Overton M.D. visited the United Presbyterian Home on Wednesday afternoon to meet with residents concerning joint replacements of the hip and knee. Using models of the knee and hip, Dr. Overton explained what is done before, during and after surgeries. He also spoke about arthritis and the options for dealing with the ailment. Many residents were in attendance and Dr. Overton was good to answer all of their questions.

Mind exercise class has started back up for the fall and will be held each Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in the large exercise area located in the basement. Activities are designed to stimulate thought and make individuals think differently. Games will include math, word search puzzles and round robin exercises.

The Fitness Center is also sponsoring a week of Wii balance games. Residents were asked to commit to two sessions of 15 minutes each. Action games of balance are played out while simulating soccer moves, slalom skiing, river ride, penguin slide and a resident favorite, table tilt. Participants stand on a square wooden block and shift their balance to interact with the motion on the screen. It is fun exercise.

In the summer of 1927, Karl King’s Fort Dodge Municipal Band was playing a fair at Atlantic. One of the performances rained out, so the band went to a downtown restaurant for coffee. After it stopped raining they decided to go out on the street and put on “Bolivar,” a ridiculous act they had seen at the fair where two local men and a tarp played a horse. A third man played the trainer of “Bolivar.” Two of the bandsmen put King’s huge raincoat over them and King portrayed the trainer. The next morning King wrote a new march, calling it “Bolivar.” And it’s a good march, too.